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Conor McGregor opponent for UFC 246 finally confirmed
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Conor McGregor opponent for UFC 246 finally confirmed

CONOR MCGREGOR will face Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone at UFC 246 in January.

The Irishman's opponent was finally revealed by UFC chief Dana White after weeks of speculation.

McGregor will headline the event with Cerrone on January 18 in Las Vegas.

Donald Cerrone

The last time McGregor fought was October 2018, where he lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov via submission. After the bout, he hinted that the fight would be his last.

However, after over a year away from the cage, the 31-year-old confirmed his return to UFC earlier this month.

The former two-weight champion will face American Cerrone at the T-Mobile Arena in a non-title welterweight bout, with White confirming that McGregor has already signed his end of the deal and that Cerrone had agreed to the fight.

"Conor has signed and Cowboy is ready to go," White told ESPN.

Should McGregor win his comeback fight, many are suggesting it would open the door to a potential rematch with Nurmagomedov.

Though the Russian fighter has admitted he has no intention of going one-on-one with McGregor again.

"I beat him up for four rounds. I beat him and choked him and he tapped. It was a sign he didn’t want to be there, ‘let me go please’ and all that. And now he wants the rematch," he said.

"First of all he has to earn it. We’re in the fourth year since his last victory.

Conor McGregor following defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov in their UFC lightweight championship fight during UFC 229 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

"It’s been three years and now we’re in the fourth. In order to fight for the title I had to win 10 fights in a row in the UFC.

"Just talking is one thing, but when it comes to doing it, he’s completely different. So for me there are no kind of announcements or insults. He’s an idiot. We don’t pay attention to idiots."

There's plenty of bad blood between rich rivals McGregor and Khabib. Following the Russian's victory last October, he scaled the wall of the Octagon and launched himself towards McGregor's coaching staff and McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis, resulting in a brawl between the two teams.

During his time away from the UFC, McGregor has launched his own Irish Whiskey brand 'Proper N0 12', with the Dubliner taking to social media to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its launch.